September 2nd, 2005
in Hellenic Year 3271, Phidippides of Athens, running from Marathon to seek aid from Sparta against the Persians, was taken captive by Spartan guards and prevented from speaking with the city’s rulers. They denied his repeated pleas for aid, and the Persians overran Athens and were soon too strong a force in Hellas for even the Spartans to handle.
in 784 AUC, the Egyptian/Roman forces of Marc Antony and Cleopatra clashed with Roman ruler Octavian at Actium in Greece. Although he had many brilliant commanders, Octavian’s men were only able to hold the line against Marc Antony. The bloody battle convinced the two sides to maintain an uneasy truce, with Marc Antony and Cleopatra ruling the eastern half of the Roman Empire and Octavian in control of the west.
in 1666, the great city of London was destroyed by 5 days of uncontrollable fire. Tens of thousands of people died in the fires, and the city itself was leveled. Pope Charles declared it the work of Protestant heretics, and orchestrated a massacre of thousands of Protestants in southern England.
in 1863, Human League founder Lyle Fitz-Warren is killed during a fight with a British Terrorism Unit. Fitz-Warren had been holed up in an Islington flat with 4 other League members; when the BTU arrived to arrest him, they tripped several traps the Human League had placed in the building, killing a dozen bystanders and BTU members. The fight to get Fitz-Warren lasted over 7 hours.
in 1944, Senator Prescott Bush of Connecticut loses his son George in World War II. The younger Bush’s plane was hit by German fire and went down, with Bush heroically attempting a crash landing in order to save his crew.
in 1945, Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Vietnamese guerilla force that had successfully fought against the Japanese occupation of the French colony, declares Vietnam independent as Japan formally surrenders. Although the French are extremely reluctant to give up the jewel of Indochina, pressure from the other Allies leads them to recognize the new situation in Vietnam. A grateful Minh leads Vietnam to much closer ties to the west than other communist nations, which spares the Vietnamese from such difficulties as the Koreans during their civil war in the ‘50s.
in 1959, Huan Yue is finally persuaded to leave Li Huang-Sen’s side and get some rest herself; she has been at his bedside since he slipped into a coma the previous day. While walking on the deck of the ship she is sailing on, she feels something call to her, and looks out over the ocean. A man seems to be standing on the water, beckoning her to come to him. She turns away and runs back to Li’s bed.
in 1973, John R. R. Tolkien, renowned English scholar at Oxford, dies at the age of 73. Professor Tolkien’s rendition of the classic tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight inspired a phenomenal resurgence of interest in the Arthurian legends.
in 1991, Dean Martin’s 26th Muscular Dystophy Telethon raises over $45 million; “Dean’s Kids” get that much closer to a cure. One of the highlights of this Telethon was Martin’s reunion with his old partner, Jerry Lewis.
in 1996, Dr. Melvin Courtney and Professor Malcolm Thomas try another set of controls in the object at Edwards Air Force base in California. With a hideous speed, they find themselves hurtling into the sky. Before they can stop the object, they have broken through the atmosphere and are in orbit over the earth.
in 2004, President Gore declares martial law across the U.S. in order to regain some control over the country. Many nations are performing similar actions as they struggle to quell the fear that has blanketed the earth after the announcement that Elders, aliens from a galactic civilization, have been discovered behind the unrest in China.
TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST
In order to provide for the upkeep of our new historian, Today In Alternate History is sponsoring its first contest - make a donation at our Paypal link, then email us up to 3 alternate history entries for October 31st, 2005. The best 10 entries will make up the entire content of the post on October 31st, Halloween day. Boring contest information is available on our Forum link below. Enter early and often!
Also, we still have our standard offer - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!
Forum Link - Boring legal info on the TIAH Halloween Contest!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?
Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, you can vote for the winner until Sept. 2 at http://aol.com/situationcomedy
Still wishing...
As your humble alternate historian enters the downhill slope of the 40's, he still has his birthday wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this belated birthday wish!
2 comments:
umm.. the info you have on the battle at actium is actually wrong. octavian won, cleopatra and antony actually lost and committing suicide a while after.. marc antony wasn't even that great of a commander, it was because of his lack of inititive that they lost. maybe better research is needed..
Take another look at the sub-title of the blog - "Important events in history that never occurred."
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